July 13 -- Fish Tacos

This was a let's use everything up in the fridge because it was bought two weeks ago kind of meal. I had leftover scallions and tomatoes from the pico for pork and pico on June 29 and they were teetering the edge of no longer being edible. So into the food processor it went. I also had some lettuce shreds and an open bag of Mexican cheese. Plus there was a box with five fish fillets left. Waste not, want not.

I put one fillet, a generous spoonful of pico, some lettuce, and a handful of cheese in a tortilla. Folded it up and put it back in the oven for 5 minutes after the oven was heated to make the fish fillets.

Two fish tacos was enough for me. I also ate one fillet alone and now there are two for dinner during the week.

July 6 -- Crispy Carnitas

I really thought I messed this one up. When the pork roast came out of the oven, it was 7 somewhat charred bricks of meat but underneath that burnt coating was succulent slow roasted pork. Who knew?

A little back story, the best barbecue I've ever had was at Arthur Bryant's in Kansas City, the original one on Vine. It is well worth the wait and it will be a stop when I'm wealthy and I eat my way across the country. I ordered the burnt ends and this carnitas recipe came out like burnt ends using a pork roast instead of ribs.

On to the recipe, I cut my roast into 7 chunks, maybe 2 by 2 inches square and I added the rub as suggested with a little cinnamon sugar since I didn't have a cinnamon stick. I also left out the bay leaf because I don't have any on hand. I put in my water and did as I was told. I only touched the pot once. Maybe I should have added more water with a half hour to go but I didn't. I just let it cook.

I figured I'd be wrapping the carnitas in a tortilla with cheese and some tomatoes but instead I dipped it in Sweet Baby Ray's barbecue sauce and paired it with a caesar salad.

June 29 -- Pork and Pico

I went back to pork ribs tonight with a little pico wrapped in a tortilla. I took the pork ribs and seasoned them. I threw them in the oven for an hour at 300 for a nice slow cook.

While they were cooking, I put three plum tomatoes, four green onions, and two cloves of garlic in the food processor to make fresh pico de gallo.

The pork and pico were wrapped in tortillas for dinner. Nothing too exciting but an easy meal.

June 22 -- Ravioli Lasagna

I make about one lasagna a year because it takes a while to construct and cook. Lasagna was a suggestion last night but everybody makes lasagna. It's not unique, but with ravioli, that's different.

I took one package of ground beef, browned and drained as the ravioli boiled. Then I greased a casserole with olive oil and layered ravioli at the bottom, put on a layer of meat, sauce, and mozzarella, then repeated the layers. Into the oven for 40 minutes at 375 and it was done. It made a lot of food, good for the week when I don't feel like cooking after camp.

June 15 -- Leftovers... so a side of risotto

As the party wound down last night, we realized there were 15 uneaten chicken parmigiana left in the chafing dish. They brought out plenty of containers and I was the lucky recipient of two pieces of chicken along with roasted potatoes and the string bean mix. This would present a problem, what should I cook for my adoring readers?

Phyllis, who is an excellent 4th grade teacher and an excellent cook too, told me "risotto is easy" after I found a kit on a one week sale at Aldi in the early spring. I found the last container of arborio rice at Pathmark and went to down. A little arborio goes a long way in risotto and I'm going to have fun with this one.

I did the arborio the way I was told. Chicken broth after you slightly roast the rice in butter and oil, 2 minutes. You put 3 cups of broth in a pot and bring it to a boil. Drop in your rice. After the rice soaks up the broth, pour on one more cup and let that simmer until it's all soaked up.

While soaking, go to town with your food processor. Tonight was parsley, garlic, and a bit of green onion from last week's dish. I poured in a half cup of parmesan and topped with a few turns of milled black pepper. As with every time I make rice, there is a ton left over so that will be a side this week. I am thinking a bit of chicken chopped into chunks.

This recipe was the basis for my cooking this week.

June 8 -- Gaucho Style Steak

I picked Argentina to win the World Cup that begins this week so I figured I'd go with a traditional Argentine supper, steak and roasted vegetables.

The steak was prepared on the Foreman grill then slices and put back on the grill. I like my meat done well. I wish I could've gotten it crispy like burnt ends but it was good.

The vegetables were yellow squash, zucchini, and bell pepper pan fried in a little olive oil and black pepper. They came out nice and tender and added some good color to the plate.

Finally, there was chimichurri, a parsley-olive oil based spread for the steak. I misread the recipe and added too much vinegar. I tried to cut it by adding some brown sugar to cut back the acid then drained off some of the liquid. It was good, but for the leftovers, I think I will make another batch of chimichurri since I have plenty of garlic, oil, and parsley.

Here's the official Food Network recipe.

As for the World Cup, everyone I know is from somewhere. I have students rooting for Brazil, Argentina, and Portugal. Another friend is for Bosnia. I have the blood of several nations in the tournament running through my veins, five off the top of my head. So let's hope it's a good tournament without anyone being headbutted in the chest.

Edit: Round two I did just oil, garlic, parsley, and two chopped scallions. It is exceptional. I can't wait to use it on chicken or some toasted Italian bread.

June 1 -- Stuffed Mexi-Chicken

I wanted to make stuffed turkey croquets with Thanksgiving dinner inside, stuffing, cranberry sauce, but there is no turkey to be found in June so I settled for chicken stuffed with pico.

I split 3 large chicken breasts for the filling. The pico is a large tomato, a few sprigs of cilantro, three cloves of garlic, and four diced scallions. I threw them in a the food processor and pulsed it a couple times. It smells great.

I will stuff the chicken with the pico and some queso blanco crumbling cheese and top with sour cream. The chicken will be put in the oven for 20 minutes or so at 400. I'll put the stuffing in with five minutes to go. A light meal for the hot days ahead.